prophecy – Page 42

Will Heaven Have Oceans? My Take

Posted on January 31, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I wrote this in December 2009 and I edited it and added more scriptures and Commentary excerpts. I am reviving it because there was an article linked to by Tim Challies titled “Will Heaven Have Oceans?” from The Gospel Coalition. (The Gospel Coalition has been publishing very iffy authors and squishy doctrine lately and I don’t recommend them unreservedly, if at all.)

The Gospel Coalition article about Heaven and oceans is from a series which examines difficult verses in the bible. Now, I’m not a trained theologian. There are many people who have interpreted this verse in different ways, so I can’t be dogmatic. But I am nearly so.

Why? One particular verse. If God “placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it” then I need to understand that if there is no sea, what does ‘eternal’ mean? Plus I have several other reasons I believe interpreting the text this way. See what you think. Your contributions or corrections to the discussion welcome.

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Venice FL, Lomo Camera. EPrata photo

Revelation 21:1 says-

“The New Heaven and Earth” – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.“

This disappoints many people, including myself. I love the sea and I hope that Jesus is preparing a place for me near it. Many people can’t conceive of a world without the oceans and their tides, waves, ships, and magnificent animals. Someone recently asked me about this and I agreed that it was a disappointment that the scriptures seemed to say that after the old earth passes away and the new earth is made, that the oceans will be no more. Until…

I started thinking, and remembered that the sea is a biblical symbol for heaving, undulating, rippling discontented people. Scripture interprets scripture, here is sea defined for us:

Isaiah 57:20, “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.” (NASB)

There is a support text in the bible that reinforces the notion that the wicked are like the sea:
Jude 1:11-13, “These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”

Pulpit Commentary explains the use of the word ‘sea’ in context to Revelation 13:1. The reference is to the beast that rises from the sea. Is the antichrist actually a beast, actually rising from the sea?

The sea, again, is the type of instability, confusion, and commotion, frequently signifying the ungovernable nations of the earth in opposition to the Church of God (cf. Revelation 17:15; Revelation 21:1)

I believe the reference to the sea in Revelation 21:1 could be a symbolic reference just as it was in the Revelation verses and Jude and in Isaiah.

Lubec Maine. EPrata photo

An alternate interpretation could be that reference to the sea as the name for the bronze laver. Here, 1 Kings 7:23 has the verse:

“Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.”

Also the Sea is referenced in 2 Chronicles 4:2, Jeremiah 52:17, 2 Kings 16:17.

In Revelation 21, the reference being to ‘no more sea’ could mean that as in Isaiah’s symbolism, there are no more wicked (sea), they have all been judged and put into outer darkness. Or in 1st Kings, there is no need for a laver (sea) because there is no longer any need to sacrifice and clean up. There is no need to wash before sacrificing since Jesus washed us all, and there are no more wicked people. We are all clean by then.

I thought further. A third reason I believe there will be a sea, is this. If God created a sea and its animals on the third day and declared it “good,” and also created the land and their animals and declared them good, then why would He abandon the sea at the renewal of the earth but not the land? Does that mean it is ‘not-good’ now? God is not inconsistent. It doesn’t make sense.

Nassau Bahamas. EPrata photo

One smaller piece of reasoning, in Revelation 10:4-6, we read of the Angel standing on the sea and on the land, and He swore by the sea and by the land that there would be no more delay in rendering judgment and that the mystery of God would be fulfilled. A promise from heaven made by the Angel swearing an oath on the sea and land…is serious. I highly doubt God would allow an oath to be made with the sea as the witness and then later delete the sea.

In still more reasons, Jesus said in Matthew 19:28

“I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Rev 21:5 repeats the concept ‘at the renewal of all things,’

“And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

All things being made new means all things!

I believe that this means what He created in the 6 days, the first beginning of “all things.”

Finally, The sea’s boundary is eternal.

Jeremiah 5:22–

‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.
Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

There exists a decree from the lips of the LORD who said it will stand for all eternity: that there is a sea-sand boundary over which the sea will never cross. For this decree to be in force eternally, there must always be sand and sea.

There are support texts in the bible that reinforces the notion that there is an eternal decree:

Job 38:8-11

“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?

Psalm 104:9

You set a boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.

Proverbs 8:29

When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the water would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

Venice FL. Lomo camera. EPrata photo

Finally, Matthew Henry’s commentary explains thus:

“The new heaven and the new earth will not be separate from each other; the earth of the saints, their glorified, bodies, will be heavenly. The old world, with all its troubles and tumults, will have passed away. There will be no sea; this aptly represents freedom from conflicting passions, temptations, troubles, changes, and alarms; from whatever can divide or interrupt the communion of saints.”

My conclusion, based on scripture, is that when John declares, “and there was no longer any sea” that if we substitute Isaiah’s definition for sea, OR the laver being the sea, rely on the promise of the renewal of all things, and know that there is an eternal decree for a sea-sand boundary, and that Jesus swore an oath by the land and the sea, that all things means ALL things, then we can safely propose that in the New Earth, there will likely be an ocean kind of sea. Hallelujah!

atheism, discernment, encouragement, Perry Noble, prophecy

A few good links: ‘One True God’ free download workbook; Meaning of Pastor, Atheism, CT quake swarm, more

Posted on January 17, 2015 by elizabethprata

Here are a few good links.

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One True God

Justin Peters wrote on Facebook this week,

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, download this free Bible study and tear into the Book. For your edification:

One True God – workbook PDF

Written by Paul Washer. I haven’t looked at the content, but I trust Peters and Washer to know good material. Take a look and see it if suits you.

Thank you Pastor, for developing good materials for us. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11)

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What does Pastor mean anymore?

A Pastor friend of mine from Maine posted this. I read it and I thought it was excellent. I don’t know the pastor who wrote it nor his church, but this particular article was very good.

Disembodied Bodies, Mark Driscoll, and How “Pastor” Has Lost All Meaning

With one simple click of the mouse, Christians can be pastored by their favorite pastor. Regardless of the miles between them, open your web browser and in just a few keystrokes, your preferred preacher is pastoring your soul…except, not really.

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. (1 Corinthians 4:1)

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Hail Satan

Tory MP comes out as atheist.
A Minister of Parliament (MP) of the Tory Party ‘came out’ as an atheist. He said that there is much pressure to at least pretend to believe in God. He said he can ‘come out’ now because his term is ending and he will not run again.

The MP was speaking at a debate on a private members bill which calls for prayers to be read at the start of council meetings. At the start of his speech, he noted that,

At a meeting of Lake Worth City Commission last month, the invocation was given by an atheist called Preston Smith. And he began his invocation with the words, ‘May the efforts of this Council blend the righteousness of Allah with the all-knowing wisdom of satan.’ The fact that the effect of the public sector equality duty on this bill is at local authority’s choosing to hold religious observance in their meetings will not then be able lawfully to discriminate against the observances of the religion of Satanism.

What the MP does not realize is that he is in exactly the same camp as the people who worship Allah and satan.

Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 2:22)

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Earthquakes in Diverse places!

4th straight day of earthquakes in Conn.

A 2.2-magnitude earthquake has rattled eastern Connecticut again. In what’s becoming a daily seismic event, the Weston Observatory of Boston College said the earthquake occurred at about 4:40 a.m. Thursday near Plainfield, where previous earthquakes were recorded. It says two minor earthquakes were recorded on Wednesday and another on Tuesday. Several were recorded on Monday and last week, too.

Connecticut officials coordinate earthquake preparation

After daily earthquakes in eastern Connecticut over the past week, officials have met to discuss ways the state can respond and residents can prepare.

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Matthew 24:7-8)

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SBC in full-on meltdown?

SBC-affiliated Beth Moore is allowed to speak God’s alleged prophetic word with no rebuke from the allegedly most conservative denomination. Perry Noble of the Southern Baptist Convention’s NewSpring church in SC re-wrote the ten commandments in a Christmas Eve sermon he delivered. As James Duncan at The Pajama Pages wrote,

On Christmas Eve, Perry Noble gifted the world a rewritten Ten Commandments. In so doing, he contradicted Scripture, celebrated his ignorance of the Bible, and ultimately rejected the gospel.

And LifeWay engages in fraud by trading on God’s word in heaven tourism for filthy lucre, causing an outcry and forced to pull one of the heaven tourism books, The Onion weighs in with a (deservedly) mocking opinion:

Publisher Pulls Book after Boy Admits He didn’t Go To Heaven

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. (2 Peter 2:2)

PS: Phil Johnson has published further statements from Tyndale related to the Heaven book which show demonstrably the publishing house knew the boy had repeatedly said he not gone to heaven and are lying about not knowing.

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And just in case you ever need it,

How to Give a Pill to a Cat

atlanta, homosexuality, kelvin cochran, prophecy

Atlanta Fire Chief Cochran fired for Christian views on homosexuality

Posted on January 8, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This is the story of Kelvin Cochran, former Atlanta Fire Chief.

But it’s so much more. It is really the story of how to glorify God when you are being persecuted.

It’s how to publicly express your faith in love when the world hates you.

It’s seeing the miracle of God using for good what they meant for evil.

The beginning of the story is that Kelvin Cochran, family man, Baptist, Sunday School teacher, men’s Bible study leader, and Atlanta Fire Chief, wrote a book in 2013 stemming from his bible study class, entitled “Who Told You That You Are Naked?” The title refers to the moment in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, and hid from God when they heard Him walking in the garden. God asked the man and woman, “who told you that you were naked?” Throughout his book, Cochran also refers to being naked as being not-covered with the righteousness of Christ.

In Cochran’s book when he refers to naked men, of course he isn’t being literal. It refers to the nakedness unsaved people live in with being exposed to Jesus without the covering of His righteous blood.

Mr Cochran shares his faith, something that he stated in the book that “it’s his first priority within the department “to cultivate its culture to the glory of God.” Chief Cochran has said in many interviews that this job as the Atlanta City Fire Chief is a dream come true. That ever since he was five years old, he has pursued a career as a firefighter. And yet for all that focused intent on pursuing his life’s dream, he puts Jesus first. The purpose of Kelvin Cochran’s life is to glorify God, and the Fire Station is just as good a place as any other on earth in which to be Christ-like and to speak of his faith. Where Chief Cochran loves to be is the Station, where he longs to be is with Jesus. His duty as a Christian is to show people his love for Jesus in heaven while Cochran is still on earth.

Along the way, he published a book. It’s aimed at men, how to be good husbands, leaders, men, based on God’s standards for doctrine and for life. In it, Cochran spelled out exactly what God’s standards for purity are, purity in works, purity in thought, and including sexual purity.

Cochran wrote,

“Uncleanness – whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, all other forms of sexual perversion.”
“Naked men refuse to give in, so they pursue sexual fulfillment through multiple partners, with the opposite sex, the same sex, and sex outside of marriage and many other vile, vulgar and inappropriate ways which defile their body – temple and dishonor God.”

Less than a half a page in the 160-page book mentioned homosexuality.

That doesn’t matter to the homosexual people.

The First Amendment of the United States’ national constitution, part of the United States’ Bill of Rights, says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Not for Kelvin Cochran. Not for an increasing number of Christians.

The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transsexual lobby discovered the book’s existence in November of 2014, and raised an outcry. Cochran was suspended with no pay for one month. He was due back to work this week.

Various reasons were given for his suspension.
–he distributed the book on government property without prior consent of the Mayor (his boss)
–he failed to alert the Mayor he was writing the book
–his views likely mean he has in the past, or will in the future, discriminate against LGBT people in hiring practices at the Fire Station
–his book is in violation of the city’s standard of conduct
–his language is so extreme, so belittling of gay and transgender people that he could not effectively lead a diverse workforce

During the one-month suspension, no one heard from Cochran. On Sunday, January 3, he did speak at Atlanta’s First Baptist church during the GA Baptist Convention regarding his testimony. The Times-Herald reported,

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin J. Cochran spoke to the “blessings of suffering” during his message delivered at First Baptist Church on Sunday. Coming off a one-month suspension because of a passage on homosexuality in a self-published book he wrote, Cochran expressed that his time off allowed him to spend more time with his family and enjoy the Christmas season

“God intended for men and women are to be together to have children and populate the Earth,” Cochran said. “And any sex outside marriage and outside of a man and woman in holy matrimony is against the word of God. For that stand, I have been laid off for 30 days without pay.” However, Cochran emphasized that he is not a victim of his beliefs, nor is he discouraged or disheartened.

I love our city, and honor and respect our mayor and love all the people of the world,” Cochran said. “I took an oath to die for all people, under any circumstance. This is not about me, it’s about the Lord.” Cochran stated that his reputation was not on the line. “I took a stand for Christ, and it’s his reputation that is on the line,” he said. “Jesus never throws us under the bus. He will be glorified and I will be vindicated once all the truth comes out.”

On Monday, the one-month suspension was to be concluded. Mayor Kasim Reed was to have pondered, investigated and come to a decision. He did.

Chief Cochran was fired.

The LGBT members of our community have a right to be able to express their views and convictions about sexuality and deserve to be respected for their position without hate or discrimination,” Cochran told me in an exclusive interview. “But Christians also have a right to express our belief regarding our faith and be respected for our position without hate and without discrimination. In the United States, no one should be vilified, hated or discriminated against for expressing their beliefs.”

Mayor Reed disagrees that it is about religious faith. Reed says it is about judgment. Chief Cochran’s judgment that is, being impaired due to extreme views.

There is some back and forth about Mayor Reed’s knowledge of Cochran’s book. A sort of what did Reed know and when did he know it?

Reed said that he had no knowledge that Cochran was writing a book. However, Cochran said the director of Atlanta’s ethics office had not only given him permission to write the book, but to also mention in his biography that he was the city’s fire chief. Cochran said he gave a copy of the book to Mayor Reed in January 2014 and the mayor told him he planned on reading it during an upcoming trip.

Cochran wants to make clear that he does not hate anyone. “The essence of the Christian faith is a love without condition, sir,” he told me. “I have demonstrated that love in the fire service for 34 years. There’s not any person of any people group that has interacted with me for any measure of time that can say I have hate or disregard or discrimination in my heart for any people group.”

Ex-Chief Cochran says he has no plans to appeal.

What does the bible say about situations like these?

1. They are inevitable. If you’re a witnessing, mature Christian in the world, you will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12). None of this is a surprise to Chief Cochran. None of it should be a surprise to you or me, either. Our response to persecution is key. Cochran said he is not a victim of his beliefs nor is he disheartened or discouraged. I am sure that in addition, Chief Cochran feels blessed in some measure to be sharing the persecution of His king.

The Hatred of the World … “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. (John 15:19-20)

2. Turn the other cheek. Chief Cochran demonstrated the values Jesus imposed in Matthew 5:39, when Cochran says he hates no one, loves all people.

But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

John MacArthur said in his blog essay Persecution and Submission,

…when persecution comes to the church, true believers don’t flee. Nor do they fight back against the persecution, or try to protest or legislate it away. Instead, authentic Christians submit to persecution.

3. He honors his boss. Mayor Reed had asked Chief Cochran not to speak to the media during the one-month suspension, and Cochran did not. Prior to that, Cochran said he’d gone to his boss’s Ethics Committee to receive advice on the protocols regarding the book he was writing, and he said he also gave a copy to his boss. Cochran was doing the proper thing with his superior officers. The Chief says he has no plans to appeal. The bible says,

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, (1 Peter 2:13).

4. Remember that the world has an illogical mind when it comes to sin. Mayor Reed said of Cochran:
“His judgment and ability to manage the department was the subject of this inquiry.” Here is Cochran’s bio, and mind you, it’s only an excerpt. There’s more.

Kelvin J. Cochran serves as First Vice President and Director of International Association Of Fire Chiefs Inc. His formal education post High School includes the U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy, Wiley College, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management (1999). In 2009, President Obama appointed him as the U.S. fire administrator for the United States Fire Administration. Mr. Cochran holds a Masters Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech (2004). Previously, he was a 26-year-veteran of Shreveport, LA fire department, having joined as firefighter in 1981, progressing through the ranks of training officer and assistant chief training officer before becoming fire chief in 1999.

It seems to me that his ‘ability to lead and manage the department’ would be stellar, and in fact, has been for 6 years. What I ask is, would the same level of scrutiny be present with an LGBT person leading and managing the department? Would they have sound judgment and no bias when it comes to hiring, training, and leading Christian folk they know object to their lifestyle? Of course not. But sin makes the carnal mind illogical, they have a debased mind. That means they don’t think straight. (Romans 1:28). We understand that and simply continue showing the love of Christ, as Chief Cochran has done.

5. Trust the Lord. Chief Cochran ended his message to the Convention gathered at Fist Baptist Church by reciting Psalm 27, which he had memorized,

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations … Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

6. The LORD always uses His people for Good. Chief Cochran knows that good will come from this. It has already. Many people, I’m sure, are encouraged by his response and take inspiration from it. I’m one of them. He is providing a template for how to respond when persecution comes to my door. The bible says,

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).

Chief Cochran’s goal was to glorify Christ. He has done so, in an unexpected way. When the time comes, may we do the same.

elijah, enoch, paul, prophecy, rapture, two witnesses

All the raptures in the bible

Posted on January 7, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I was listening to Tommy Ice on pre-Tribulation rapture on a youtube video last week. It was a long video, over an hour, and I only had time to listen to about ten minutes. I figured I’d get back to it.

But I lost it in the flow of the dozens of music videos I subsequently watched while on vacation. Viva vacation.

All this to say I’m sorry I can’t post a link to the video, but here is the part that interested me.

We Christians know about the rapture. We understand that at the moment the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (the full number, Romans 11:25), the rapture will occur and Jesus will descend from heaven. We will vanish from the earth in a moment, a twinkling of an eye. The dead will be no means be left behind, they will also be raised and we’ll all meet in the air. Jesus will lead us to heaven. Then, the final 7 years remaining to complete the Old Testament decree regarding the Jews will resume on earth. It will be a time of Godly wrath, unleashed full force.

It’s fascinating to think about going on our daily business, driving, washing, feeding the dog, and suddenly we will hear the trumpet of God, and the next moment we’ll be airborne! The next moment we’ll be in heaven, where no eye has seen nor any ear has heard the things prepared for us!! It is a singular, unique, momentous event!

However as I listened Dr Ice put something together in my mind. There have been several raptures already.

Enoch.

James Tissot, ~1900

Father of the longest lived man on earth, Methuselah. Enoch was the 7th from Adam. He was a prophet. (Jude 1:14). He lived 365 years, then God took him home. He was the only one in a long line of the genealogical record to not have died. “And then he died…And then he died…And then he was not, for God took him.” Raptured.

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)

Elijah.

Prophet, servant of God. Slew all the false prophets of Baal by the sword. (1 Kings 18). Mentored Elisha. Raptured.

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)

Jesus.

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11). Raptured.

Paul, Isaiah.

Paul wrote about “a man” who was caught up to the third heaven. Most scholarly consensus is that Paul is speaking of himself. Note that Paul says “caught up” in some translations it’s “snatched up”. In the Greek it’s the word harpazo. This means snatched up. It is the same word that describes the bride’s snatching up, or of being caught up.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. (2 Corinthians 12:2)

Isaiah- This one is more speculative, but in Isaiah 6:1 Isaiah wrote that he saw the throne room. Whether in the body or not…we can’t be sure. He described the altar, the train of the Lord, the pillars,the seraphim crying HOLY HOLY HOLY. However after Isaiah exclaimed he was undone, he was a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, the seraphim took a coal from the altar and touched Isaiah’s lips. If Isaiah was not in the body then this is metaphorical, however the word for mouth in Hebrew is mouth, the word used here. My personal opinion is that Isaiah was bodily caught up to heaven as Paul was.

Two Witnesses.

In Revelation 11 we are told that there will be Two Witnesses sent by God to preach to the entire world. This will be during the Tribulation

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. (Revelation 11:11-12).

Many people think, and I include myself, that the Two Witnesses are Enoch and Elijah. Since it is appointed for man to die once then the judgment, and they never did, that this means the Two Witnesses are those two men and their death will occur during the Tribulation. Anyway, The Two Witnesses will be raptured.

Philip.

I wrote about his remarkable instant journey from point A to point B in Gaza: here. I have always been fascinated by the practical moments. After Philip was finished baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch, he was snatched up and set down 20miles away. He wasn’t raptured to heaven but to two places on earth, but still, the notion of being bodily taken up by the scruff of the neck like a kitten and plunked down some there else with no warning is amazing. In the sense of a harpazo, a catching away, Philip’s experience fills the bill. His snatching up is the same word used on the Bride’s rapture: harpazo.

And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:39-40).

We’ve talked about various raptures in the past. They’ve all been one man or at most two. The most startling and eagerly anticipated event of all is no doubt

THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

This will occur at an unknown time in the future, and it will happen to a large number of dead and alive believers.

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.(1 Corinthians 15:52-53).

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,d that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)

While being raptured is not a usual nor a frequent event, neither is it made-up as some like to claim. As we can see in the bible, it has happened before and will happen again. It isn’t far-fetched and it isn’t an “escape.” A catching up or a snatching away of persons or groups of people is an event that God uses in His plan to accomplish the things He wants to accomplish. Simple as that.

How wonderful He is so sovereign He is able to put us where He wants and to take us up when He wants. How majestic are His ways. What a blessed hope our rapture is.

Come soon Lord Jesus!

bible, clarity, eschatology, last things, macarthur, mohler, perspicuity, prophecy

Why prophecy is important (The world is unraveling)

Posted on December 27, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I love prophecy. To me, it is the clearest identifier of God as sovereign over the universe, the earth, humans, and time. He writes history in advance, because He is king of all, and what He says will come to pass.

I also love studying the bible. I believe it is the highest and best use of time, to get to know the attributes of the LORD, to seek His face through what He has told us. If you want ‘direct revelation’, the bible cannot be beat for informing us of our Lord and King, Jesus.

The bible is knowable and understandable to the Christian. We have the Holy Spirit in us to illuminate His word to us. (Ephesians 1:17-18). The Holy Spirit teaches us spiritual things. (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). Of course there are some things in the bible we cannot understand, such as the Trinity, One God in three Persons. We cannot understand the Spirit’s overcoming Mary and producing a child. We do not understand all the ways in which God thinks. However, for the most part, the doctrines upon which He has given to us, are understandable.

One such doctrine is the doctrine of eschatology. This is the doctrine of ‘last things’, or end times. Just because there are many people who won’t or can’t understand the various threads of prophecy does not mean there exists confusion about what He plans to do. The pre-tribulation rapture is one of these understandable doctrines, clearly outlined in the bible to those who care to learn. Some people say Revelation is difficult, I find it easy to understand. I do find Daniel difficult, but that does not stop me from studying it, nor from turning to other scripture to help me interpret Daniel’s book. It can be done, and it has been done. Oliver B. Greene’s commentary on Daniel is wonderful. John MacArthur’s book “Because the Time is Near” is a clear explanation of Revelation.

Even this is a doctrine! It is called the Perspicuity of Scripture. According to the Theopedia, the perspicuity of scripture means,

The doctrine of the clarity of Scripture (often called the “perspicuity of Scripture”) teaches that “the meanings of the text can be clear to the ordinary reader, that God uses the text of the Bible to communicate His person and will.”

“The witness of the Church throughout the ages is that ordinary people, who approach it in faith and humility, will be able to understand what the Bible is getting at, even if they meet with particular points of difficulty here and there.”

Yet there are some people who refuse to believe the doctrines of last things, because so many other people are mixed up over them. ‘They can’t be understood, so why try?’ I was told by one man in church. “I’m a pan-tribber, it’ll all work out in the end,” he said.

Illustrator, Chris Koelle, The Book of Revelation

That is a highly offensive statement, and I said so to his face. It is a blight on Jesus, the Spirit, and God who inspired it, and all the Apostles who wrote the inspired word, and all the martyrs who protected it, to be so blatantly dismissive of 30% of God’s holy doctrines. Jesus did not reveal last things to John, nor the angel to Daniel, so God’s people could mock them.

Did you know that every NT book except Philemon mentions last things?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

So I was so pleased when John MacArthur was asked about eschatology in his latest Q & A session at Grace Community Church. In Q&A session #62 it was stated by the interviewer that they had received more than a dozen questions regarding eschatology.

First, MacArthur noted that a church without a solid understanding of eschatology has got a huge loose end. Here are MacArthur’s words on the importance of the church understanding and teaching last things:

a church without a solid biblical eschatology, meaning understanding of the end of history has got a huge loose end. It’s huge. I said something about that this morning when I was kind of wrapping up. I said, the Jews wanted to force all the prophesies regarding the Messiah into His first coming. We have Christians who want to take all the prophesies concerning Christ and push them back into His first coming. They’re called pretrerists, amillenialists. So they have this theology with this totally open end. It just has no closure. They don’t seem to care particularly. It’s almost like a badge of Reformed loyalty to be unsure about how everything ends.

I am running into this attitude more frequently, the badge of loyalty to uncertainty. “I’m super-spiritually humble because I refuse to state how things will end.” Or, “I’m super tolerant of all the different interpretations, because who am I to say dogmatically? It’s all just beyond little ole me.” Uncertainty is the new loyalty. But is that right? Is that honoring to Jesus? Here’s more from MacArthur.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t work well with me. First of all, I don’t think God gave a clear beginning and just kind of lost Himself at the end. I don’t think if Genesis 1 says that God created in six days and there’s no question about it, and He lays out exactly how He did it; and you get to the book of Revelation and you hear about periods of certain weeks and certain months and certain years and a thousand year millennium, and then an eternal state. I don’t think God lost His way at the end. I don’t think He was confused at the end. I think the end is as precise as the beginning. To be honest with you, I am far more concerned about the end than I am the beginning. The beginning is over. I’m glad it was what it was, and it explains why things are the way they are.

This is an important point. God did not state it clearly in the beginning and then back away from clarity for the end. He is just as clear in Revelation as He was in Genesis.

Source

As for the people who say, ‘There are so many interpretations, it’s just best to let go and let God. It’ll all work out in the end, anyhow,’ I say that’s just a bunch of lazy hooey. There are not many views of last things. There is only one view, God’s view, and He has shared it with us.

But I don’t think you can over estimate the value of a church with a clear ecclesiology and a clear eschatology. Clear understanding of the church, and a clear understanding of what the Bible says about how things are going to end. It does say something. It doesn’t say everything, and it doesn’t say whatever you want it to say. It doesn’t have ten views or five views or four views. There’s just one view.

MacArthur went on to describe a wonderful moment in Kazakhstan some years ago. Kazakhstan is east of Mongolia and north of Turkey. It is around the world. He was asked to teach 1600 men at a pastor’s conference. MacArthur taught 8 hours a day for 6 days a week. The men were hungry for the word, to be taught. They had been behind the Iron Curtain and now were released into more freedoms, including the freedom to practice religion, and to gather. They’d been denied a congregation, education, commentaries, access to internet or anything resembling study aids. They had each other, and the bible…and the Holy Spirit. So they wanted to know about all the doctrines, including eschatology.

MacArthur said,

I laid out; I went through the book of Revelation systematically and showed them the end. They said to me after that – I took a day to do that. The end of that day they said, “You believe what we believe.” I said, “I believe what you believe?” Same Bible. Guess what? It’s so clear that people with no training, no seminary, and no commentaries could understand what the book of Revelation said.

The reason I gave you the illustration about Kazakhstan is because that is as alien a place as you could ever be. Thirty-five hours to get there. You step off the plane. I’ve never been there. I don’t know what’s going on. I teach them a whole day on the end times, and they tell me that’s exactly what they believe. How did they come to that? They don’t have seminaries. They don’t have books. They don’t have anything. That’s what the Bible says. You have to go to school and listen to somebody who deceives you to undo that because that’s what’s there.

MacArthur has said before that any believer who landed on a desert island with nothing else except his bible can and would understand eschatology. The 1,600 Kazakhstan men were as close to desert island as you can get in this modern world, and eschatology was made understandable to them- because they studied it.

Source

As a note, what a glory it is that we believers have this unifying thread! What a moment of recognition between a Scottish-descended pastor from Sun Valley CA and Kazakhstani men isolated behind the iron curtain, to know each other as brothers! This unifying thread is the holy word, the Bible.

For men to say, ‘Ack, it’s all too much for me, it’ll all work out in the end, anyway,’ is a direct rejection of the wonder of being able to recognize and commune with brothers via a common and eternal understanding of God’s word, wherever you are on earth.

Rejecting eschatology is also a rejection of the work that the Spirit has done in men that He has raised up. Many resources are out there, as I mentioned, commentaries, sermons, books, timelines…it is all there for us.

To continue what MacArthur said about eschatology,

I think it matters how it all ends. I think God is glorified when we acknowledge Him as the Creator, the beginning; and I think He is glorified when we acknowledge Him as the consummator, the end. I think that’s a huge benefit for Christians looking at the world and wondering where is this going? Where is this going?

In talking to Al Mohler when I was back there a few weeks ago, he said he’s more eschatological than he’s ever been. He’s almost apocalyptic because he sees a world that just there is no way to reverse this. This thing is in a massive free fall, and there is no way to stop this. He’s pretty well-attuned to the way things are, and he says, “I’ve never felt so eschatological, so apocalyptic about the way the world is going.” Well, if you want to understand where the world is going, you can as a believer. That gives us such a powerful confidence that all that is coming is laid out for us on the pages of Scripture. I think that’s a treasure that a church can’t underestimate.

Do not reject the treasure of eschatology. It is just as much a treasure as the Psalms and the Gospels. Do not reject the work we are to do through eschatology. We have the answer to how it will all end. Lost people are confused and frightened about where this world is headed. We know it. Do not be afraid to study, and then to share.

What message does it send when a mature man of the faith in church makes a public statement dismissing eschatology? It tells the next generation that it is not worth studying, and bible illiteracy increases, just at the time when the next generation may be the very generation to see these things come to pass and could have been more fervent and diligent about sharing the truth with lost and confused people.

John MacArthur is a unique individual and is in a unique position. It was common in the old days for a pastor to stay for decades. Not so any more, where the average pastoral stay is 5 years or less. MacArthur has been at Grace Church for 46 years. He is 75 years old. He has seen history unfold, prophecy fulfilled and apostasy rise. He said,

I’m seeing this world unravel. There doesn’t seem to be any way back. I mean this is totally out of control. This is a free fall down a black hole. So, you can’t just say, “Well, eschatology doesn’t matter.” That is not helpful. People want answers. Where is this thing going? It’s not fair to God, it’s a dishonor to God to say, “Well, the Bible is not clear.” It is clear. It is absolutely clear.

Yes, it is sad and offensive that there are so many people who refuse to study last things. Those who dismiss the Spirit’s work in inspiring that portion of the bible are simply missing out on so much glory. It is also sad that so many brethren have unfortunately come to different understandings of what God clearly laid out. But does that mean we reject it all? Does that mean that is is useless for us individually to study it? No.

I just wish that the church was unified on what the Bible says. I don’t like it that there are Christians who don’t believe in Creation, but believe in some form of evolution. I think that dishonors God and confuses people. I don’t like it that there are Christians who don’t accept what the Bible says about the end either. But I think it’s wonderful that we do, and the answers are there.

God’s word has all the answers, including last things. Please do not be afraid to jump in and read, learn, pray, and receive illumination from the Spirit. Do not be afraid to seek credible, quality study aids. Always remember the perspicuity of scripture. The bible is clear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even the pots will be holy

Posted on December 27, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar.

EPrata photo

And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

~Zechariah 14:20-21

EPrata photo

Pastor Steve Hadley once said while preaching through Zechariah, that pound for pound, Zechariah contains more prophecy than any other book of the bible, including Revelation. It is an astounding book, magnificent in its history, prophecy, and terrible beauty.

Here, we see the very end of Zechariah’s book, the last verse. Zechariah is speaking of the Day when Jesus (the coming Messiah, the Lord) will rule on earth during the Millennial kingdom. John Walvoord explains the verse in his commentary:

In that day holiness will characterize millennial life (cf. 8:3) whether it be in public life (the bells of the horses), religious life (the cooking pots in the LORD‘s house, the millennial temple, Ezek. 40–43), or private life (every pot in Jerusalem and Judah). Perhaps the general thought is the removal of a dichotomy between secular and sacred. In the Old Testament a Canaanite had become symbolic of anything ceremonially unclean and ungodly (the dishonest “merchant” in Hosea 12:7 is lit., “the Canaanite”). In the millennial temple no such defilement will occur. Thus Zechariah’s prophetic book which began with a call to repentance (Zech. 1:2–6) concludes with an affirmation that all will be holy to the LORD (14:20–21). Because He is the LORD Almighty and the Holy One, He will establish holiness throughout the glorious Millennium!

Lindsey, F. D. (1985). Zechariah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 1571–1572). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

I like even better Gill’s Exposition. What a joyous time it will be, when ALL is holy!

Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts,…. Such will be the number of sacrifices and sacrificers, that the pots in the Lord’s house will not be sufficient; wherefore every pot, in city or country, shall be sanctified and devoted to holy uses:

and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; this denotes, as before, the general holiness of the professors of religion in those times; and that there will be no difference in the vessels of the Lord’s house, or any distinction of Jew and Gentile; but they will be all spiritual worshippers, and offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise to the Lord

christmas, incarnation, prophecy, shiloh, simeon

Simeon’s Song

Posted on December 22, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Rembrandt: Simeon’s Song

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas Story of Jesus’ Incarnation is Simeon’s Song.

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25).

Of those verses, Charles Spurgeon said it best:

WHAT a biography of a man! How short and yet how complete! We have seen biographies so wordy, full one half is nonsense and much of the other half too dull to be worth reading. We have seen large volumes spun out of men’s letters. Writing desks have been broken open and private diaries exposed to the world. Nowadays if a man is a little celebrated, his signature, the house in which be was born, the place where he dines and everything else is thought worthy of public notice.

Short biographies, which give a concise and exact account of the whole man, are the best. What do we care about what Simeon did—where he was born, where he was married, what street he used to walk through, or what colored coat he wore? We have a very concise account of his history and that is enough. His “name was Simeon.” He lived “in Jerusalem.” “The same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Beloved, that is enough of a biography for any one of us. If, when we die, so much as this can be said of us—our name. Our business, “waiting for the Consolation of Israel.” Our character, “just and devout.” Our companionship, having the Holy Spirit upon us—that will be sufficient to hand us down, not to time, but to eternity memorable among the just and estimable among all them that are sanctified!

At the time in Israel, faith was in short supply. Of course, Christianity didn’t exist yet, it would fully flower in their generation, but not yet. Judaism, which was supposed to have brought the light to the world, had become dark and corrupt- unrecognizable to the One it was supposed to point to. (Jeremiah 7:11). This was a time when what was supposed to bring the Light was at its darkest and most corrupt. Where was faith? Where was a right heart? Where was a mind with a right understanding of the promise of Israel? In a few people, and as we see here, it was in Simeon.

Simeon’s character was enumerated in Luke 2:25 gloriously and concisely. Note that his entire being was laying in hopeful wait for the Messiah. His old body tottered up to the temple each day, waiting and waiting, for what? To be with the Messiah that was promised, maybe even to say (as Spurgeon proposed) “Perhaps He will come today.”

We can learn from Simeon’s example. Despite the corruption ongoing all around him, despite national occupation and oppression by a hostile regime, despite widespread apostasy, despite greed, pride, and the blackened hearts of the priests, scribes and Pharisees who were supposed to shepherd the people, Simeon persevered in joyful expectation and faith.

He had the Spirit with him, but we have the Spirit IN us! We have the New Testament, knowing the second advent will occur, that the rectification of all that is evil will happen. We know that Jesus will return to take His place on HIS earth as rightful owner, finally and blessedly crushing the head of the serpent. (Genesis 2:15).

Upon seeing the Babe presented at the Temple, Simeon “took him up in his arms and blessed God”… Let us take Jesus up into our hearts and minds with all our strength and soul, and let us bless God for Him, Shiloh.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10).

hail, prophecy

A little known prophecy in Job

Posted on December 18, 2014 by elizabethprata

I’m sure you have read (and admired) the following verse from Job a million times. But have you ever considered the prophetic aspects of this powerfully packed scripture? Job 38 is the climactic chapter where God speaks to Job about His own sovereignty over creation, time, and over all the peoples of earth.

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?” (Job 38:22-23)

Have you ever noticed the phrase, “the time of trouble”? Other translations say reserved for “the time of distress”. You will also notice the reference to “the day” of battle and war. These are standard phrases referring to the final days of the Tribulation. (For example, Jeremiah 30:7, Obadiah 1:14, Joel 2:11).

God has used hail before in judgment and He will do so again. In the past, He used hail during the plagues He sent to Pharaoh, in themselves pictures of the revelation judgments of the coming Tribulation.

“The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field“. (Exodus 9:25)

The future judgment will contain another plague of hail-

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. (Revelation 16:21)

Gill’s Exposition says of the Job 38 verse,

Of hail we have instances in Scripture, as employed against the Egyptians and Canaanites, Exodus 9:25; and of a reserve of it in the purposes of God, and in prophecy against the day of battle with antichrist, Revelation 16:21.
And though there are no instances of snow being used in this way in Scripture, yet there is in history. Strabo reports, that at Corzena and Cambysena, which join to Mount Caucasus, such snows have fallen, that whole companies of men have been swallowed up in them; and even armies have been overwhelmed with them, as the army of the Gauls and such quantities have been thrown down from mountains, on which they have been lodged, that towns, towers, and villages, have been laid prostrate by them and in the year 443, a vast snow destroyed many.

I am so awed by prophecy. The (probably) oldest book of the bible, Job, contains a prophecy that is parallel to the last book of the bible, Revelation. God has His plan and who can thwart it? He has set aside some for eternal condemnation and others for eternal joy. He has stored aside His wrath to be unleashed upon them, and hail will be part of that stored-up unleashing. He is precise and will do what He says and it will come to pass to the Nth degree.

The bible is awe-inspiring in its depiction of our God, who authored it and revealed to us what He wants us to know. Part of that knowing is seeing His prophetic mind and His plans come to pass. I praise Him for all His plans, ways, perfections, prophecies.

The purpose of prophecy is:

The disclosing of the will and purposes of God through inspired or Spirit-filled human beings. The OT emphasises the importance of prophecy as a means of knowing God. Many OT prophecies find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.

1. Contents of Prophecy

That which is given by the Spirit to the prophet can refer to the past and to the present as well as to the future. However, that which is revealed to the prophet finds its inner unity in this, that it all aims to establish the supremacy of Jehovah. Prophecy views also the detailed events in their relation to the Divine plan, and this latter has for its purpose the absolute establishment of the supremacy of Jehovah in Israel and eventually on the entire earth.

von, O. C. (1915). Prophecy, Prophets. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 2464). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.

Above all, prophecy shows who is LORD over all creation. It points to Jesus. It is history unfolding as it was laid down from the beginning. The LORD has stored up hail and snow, reserved for the day of distress. He will do it.

day of the lord, imminent, prophecy, rapture, S. Lewis Johnson

What does it mean when the Prophets say "The Day of the LORD is near?"

Posted on December 8, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I was listening to S. Lewis Johnson preach Obadiah. in a sermon titled “The Prophet of Edom’s Doom.” In Obadiah 1:15, the Prophet of God says,

For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.

Any reader of the bible, Old Testament or New, casual reader or diligent, will have read that expression. It is rendered frequently. For example Ezekiel 30:3 states the Day is near, so does Joel 1:15, Joel 2:1, Zephaniah 1:14, and so on. Were all the prophets wrong? It has been two thousand years! What can we make of this?

S. Lewis Johnson explains.

Now, he [Obadiah] says the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. Well, of course, that would lead us to ask the question, “Well, now what a minute, the day of the Lord has not come yet. It’s been hundreds of years since the prophet Obadiah prophesied and not only has it been hundreds of years but we don’t have anything in the immediate future to indicate that the day of the Lord is nigh at hand. The catching up of the church has not even taken place yet, so how can he write near? Was he wrong? Did the prophet speak not unto inspiration when he said the day of the Lord is near? What do we mean when we say near in the sense of the prophetic word?

Well, probably we mean something like imminent; that is, it may come at any moment. We don’t mean it must come at any moment. That’s evident from the Biblical teaching in the Old Testament as we see here and also in the New Testament. So the term really means something like it is imminent, it may come. Now, it so happens we know that the day of the Lord has not come and it’s been a long time.

One of the students of the Book of Obadiah, a very good student has said, “Now, when we say that a prophetic event is imminent just what do we mean?” The following illustration is helpful. With a little care one may balance a heavy book on the edge of a table. There the book remains poised. Let the room remain absolutely quiet and the book may stay there indefinitely yet at any moment a slight jar may cause it to fall.

No one can predict the precise instance of its drop, for its fall is imminent. So it is with the next event in the prophetic schedule. He says, “The rapture may come in our day or it may linger far beyond our time. Not itself, the day of the Lord, it is the vestibule of that day.”

EPrata photo

Therefore since the Day of the LORD is near, the rapture is nearer. Let this be a comfort to you.

israel, jerusalem, prophecy, synagogue

Israel in prophecy: Peace talks, Jerusalem divided? ISIS blows up pipeline, Synagogue attack

Posted on November 19, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Israel and especially Jerusalem has been in the news a lot lately. Israel is the ground zero for prophecy. As Joel Rosenberg wrote in his non-fiction book Epicenter, that part of the world is prophetically known as the epicenter because “the eyes of the nations are riveted upon Israel and the Middle East, the epicenter of the momentous events shaking our world and shaping our future.”

For thus says the Lord of host, After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you– that is Israel–touches the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8)

He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. (Deuteronomy 32:10)

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, (Psalm 17:8)

“Israel is very precious to God; and they who vex and harass him are as they who hurt that which God prizes inestimably, and which a mere touch offends and injures.” (Pulpit Commentary)

And yet we know that in the end of time no one on earth will be Israel’s friend. Zechariah 12:3 says that at the time of the very end, all nations will be gathered against her. This is to show that God alone is Israel’s protector. All who try to move Jerusalem, the immovable rock, will injure themselves, the prophecy states.

By these verses and others we can see and know that the hatred against Israel and the Jews is irrational. This is because it is from satan. This rage and hatred of Israel will only become worse as time goes on and God executes His final plans for human history.

Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

2The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

3“Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

(Psalm 2:1-3)

For the last few weeks tensions and violence in Jerusalem has inched up to the nearly unbearable zone. Fox News has a timeline. Here is an excerpt

Nov. 5: A Hamas militant slams a minivan into crowd waiting for a train in Jerusalem, killing two.

Nov. 8: Israeli police shoot and kill an Arab Israeli protester at a demonstration in northern Israel. Video indicates the man was walking away from the officer when shot.

Nov. 10: Palestinian attackers kill two Israelis in Tel Aviv and the West Bank in separate stabbing attacks.

Nov. 13: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman; the trio agrees on steps to defuse tensions at Jerusalem holy site.

Nov. 14: Israel lifts age restriction at holy site; Friday prayers go off without incident.

Nov. 16: Police say Israeli man stabbed in the back by an “Arab” attacker in Jerusalem and wounded. Assailant escapes.

Nov. 17: Israeli government says it will step up punitive demolitions, gives notices to families of Palestinian attackers

Nov. 18: Two Palestinians storm Jerusalem synagogue, kill ~~four~~ five and wound six.

November 7:
Call to Mobilize Reservists to Secure Jerusalem

Avi Naim, head of the Beit Aryeh council in western Samaria, called to mobilize reserve forces to stabilize the security situation in Jerusalem on Friday, in a special interview with Arutz Sheva. “The situation is explosive and sensitive,” Naim stated. “There is the guiding hand of [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas there, who wants to burn the city [down], and the fact that there are no incidents in Judea-Samaria.” “[Jerusalem] needs reinforcements, and we should call up the reserves, so the [IDF] is seen everywhere and so that we take a firm hand [against terrorists],” he added.

Remember, the end of November was supposed to be a drop-dead date for finalization of peace talks, long-stalled but supposedly resumed in October. The goal in early November was this:

The Palestinians are expected to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council by the end of November or early December that calls for an end to the occupation and the recognition of a Palestinian state along 1967 lines.

Joel 3:2 prophesies judgment upon the nations for the way they treated Israel, which the verses above show God considers His own, near to Him as the apple of His eye. Dividing His land is something He will render wrath for, and dividing Jerusalem is an even worse idea. Yet Luke 21:24 shows us that the Gentiles trample Jerusalem anyway.

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Revelation 11:2 says it will be for 42 months.

but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

November 8
EU urges two-state capital in Jerusalem as tensions soar
Europe’s top diplomat on Saturday called for a Palestinian state sharing Jerusalem as its capital with Israel, hours after the police killing of an Arab-Israeli further fanned tensions. … “I think Jerusalem can be and should be the capital of two states,” the new EU foreign policy chief told reporters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. The status of Jerusalem is a sensitive issue that has blocked peace efforts for decades.

November 13
Martin Sherman wrote an opinion piece on the Jerusalem Post asking a terrible question,

Into the Fray: On the cusp of carnage?
A perfect storm brewing

A perfect storm is brewing for Israel. On virtually every front, ominous clouds are gathering, and should the menacing maelstroms they portend hit together, it is far from certain that the Jewish state will survive the destructiveness of their combined impact. Since I began writing this Into the Fray series in mid- 2011, I have warned repeatedly of the perils of the government’s policy of counterproductive compromises and concessions. I cautioned that this “cavalcade of capitulation” will elicit nothing from our adversaries other than demands for more – and more far-reaching – concessions, as indeed it has. In my column of December 2, 2011, I wrote: “By adopting a policy of continually trying to avoid confrontations in which it can prevail, Israel may eventually find itself forced to engage in a confrontation in which it cannot.”

Precisely such a perilous predicament is now beginning to develop before our eyes.

Across every border Israel shares with its Arab neighbors, within its own borders, and far removed from them, a formidable range of threats – from damaging economic sanctions and international isolation, through murderous terrorist attacks, jihadi insurgency and domestic insurrection, to the specter of weapons of mass destruction and a nuclear Iran – is coalescing with disturbing speed into a multi-faceted menace that jeopardizes the survival of the Jewish nation-state to a degree arguably unprecedented since its inception.

There is one yet-to-be fulfilled prophetic confrontation that Israel engages in which they cannot and do not win: The Gog-Magog battle of Ezekiel 38-39. In that confrontation, Israel is taken by surprise, and would lose, unless the LORD had directly intervened.

November 15
ISIS Blows Up Egypt-Jordan Gas Pipeline
The pipeline through Sinai exports Egypt’s natural gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Jordan is in the anti-ISIS coalition.

The Islamic State’s Sinai Peninsula terror organization, which was named Ansar Bayt al-Makdas until it swore allegiance to Islamic State (aka ISIS), has blown up the pipeline carrying gas from Egypt to Jordan. The pipeline, which is 1,200 km long, and was built at a cost of $1.2 billion, is used for exporting natural gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In the past, it was repeatedly attacked by Islamist terror groups, until Egypt’s gas exports to Israel were halted. The Islamic State’s Sinai Peninsula notified the press that it would not allow gas to be exported to Jordan unless ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi allowed it. It said that the attack was a response to Jordan’s participation in the military coalition against ISIS.

Speaking of being on the cusp of carnage, though in his opinion piece Mr Sherman was speaking of general war between nations, there was carnage today, sadly and mournfully.

~~Four~~ Five killed in attack on Jerusalem synagogue

Four Israelis were killed and eight more wounded in a frenzied assault by two Palestinian men on Jewish worshippers praying at a Jerusalem synagogue in the most lethal incident in the city in years. The two assailants who launched their attack with meat cleavers and a gun during early morning prayers were then killed by police officers in the ensuing gun battle at the scene of the attack. The deaths occurred as the two men – identified by family members as cousins Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from the East Jerusalem district of Jabal Mukaber – burst into the Bnei Torah synagogue in Har Nof, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of West Jerusalem.

Israel vows harsh response to synagogue attack

Israel vowed harsh retaliation Tuesday for a Palestinian attack that left four rabbis hacked or shot to death on the blood-smeared floor of a synagogue in Jerusalem, a major escalation of already-high tensions after weeks of religious violence. The attack during morning prayers in the west Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof was carried out by two Palestinian cousins wielding meat cleavers, knives and a handgun. They were shot to death by police after the deadliest assault in the holy city since 2008. Three of the dead were born in the United States and the fourth was born in England, although all held dual Israeli citizenship. Six others were wounded, including two police officers.

Tuesday’s attack, however, appeared to mark a turning point, with the gruesome scene in a house of worship shocking a nation long accustomed to violence. The government released a photo of a bloody meat cleaver it said came from the crime scene. Government video showed blood-soaked prayer books and prayer shawls on the floor of the synagogue. A pair of glasses lay under a table dripping in blood, and thick streaks of blood lined the floor.

Source

Tears.

How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

(Psalm 13:1-6)